DB: Mini Cake Donuts

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.

I have been meaning to make donuts for a long time but kept putting off because it involved deep frying. But I have since overcome my fear of hot oil and have come to embrace its yummy goodness.

I used a cake donut recipe from Canadian Living magazine. I would have preferred to try a yeasted donut but didn't plan well enough ahead of time. These came together as easily as pancake batter, however, they required a 1 hour rest in the fridge. I am THRILLED with how they turned out. Super cute, 1 1/2" donuts or as the recipe directs, donut holes. I used my fingers to shape them.

My dad preferred them without the sugar, opting to have them dunked in his tea like a biscuit. Overall, a success! I will definitely be trying a yeasted version in the future and perhaps experimenting with a Krispy Kreme Copycat recipe.



Cake Donuts
from Canadian Living

3 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1/2 cup light cream (10% M.F.)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
Canola oil or safflower oil or vegetable oil, for deep-frying,

Cinnamon Sugar for coating

Preparation:
In bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. In small bowl, whisk 10% and whipping creams and vanilla. Set aside.

In large bowl, beat eggs with sugar until pale; gradually beat in cream mixture. Stir in flour mixture to make soft sticky dough. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Spray a mini (1 tbsp) ice-cream scoop or 1 tbsp measure with nonstick spray. In deep fryer or deep saucepan, heat 2 inches oil until deep-fryer thermometer reads 350 degrees F. Drop batter by tablespoonfuls into oil, 6 at a time; deep-fry, turning once, until golden and puffed, 3 to 4 minutes. With slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Transfer to rack; let cool slightly then toss in cinnamon sugar to coat.

Crispy Vegetable Spring Rolls

I have been wanting to make my own spring rolls for a while now and I finally tackled this project over the long weekend. When I was looking for recipes I ran into the issue of egg rolls versus spring rolls. Are they the same thing?

From what I've read, the difference basically comes down to the wrappers. Egg rolls use a slightly thicker wrapper made with egg versus the paper-thin rice paper wrappers of spring rolls. They are also more substantial, often containing meat (ground pork) whereas spring rolls traditionally are packed solely with vegetables. The last twist is that spring rolls and egg rolls are fried but their cousin, the summer roll, is not. I felt adventurous so I also made some Summer Rolls for a nice, light lunch. Check out this post coming soon.

I adapted this recipe from Rasa Malaysia and Recipezaar. I was happy with the results but the key recommendation I would make is to TASTE IT as you go so the filling is perfectly seasoned the way you like it before you roll and fry.



Crispy Vegetable Spring Rolls
Makes 24 - 5" rolls

Filling:
4 cups (approx 1/3) green cabbage, chopped into thin pieces
2 cups mung bean sprouts
1 cup (approx 4) fresh shiitake mushrooms, julienned (or rehydrated dried shiitakes)
1 cup (approx 4) button mushrooms, julienned or 1 cup extra firm tofu cubed
1 cup (approx 5) green onions, chopped
1 cup (approx 1) carrot, grated

Sauce:
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp chinese rice wine
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp white pepper
2 tsp cornstarch

spring roll wrappers
water
oil for deep frying

1. Combine all the vegetables in a large mixing bowl. Combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl.

2. Heat some vegetable oil, about 2 tbsp, in a skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté your vegetables in the hot oil until quite soft. Push the veggies to the side of the pan and add your sauce. Toss to coat and continue cooking until veggies are fully cooked and sauce is well distributed throughout. Taste and adjust seasoning as you like.

3. Lay the spring roll wrapper with one of the corners facing you and spoon in 1/4 cup filling. Lightly moisten all 4 corners of the wrapper with a dab of water. Fold the bottom point over the filling, fold in the two sides and roll up (like a burrito). Set aside until all of them are rolled and you're ready to fry. (I lay them on a silicone mat covered loosely with a towel so they don't dry out).

4. In a deep fryer or in a heavy pot, heat 2" of canola oil to 375 degrees F. Deep fry spring rolls in small batches for 3-4 minutes. You don't need very long because all you are doing is crisping the wrappers since the filling is fully cooked. Drain on paper towels or paper bags. Serve with plum sauce or soy sauce.

**These refrigerate/freeze well. Just zap for a few seconds in the microwave to heat then re-crisp in the oven.

Yam Fries

These. Were. So. Good.

What a nice change from regular old potatoes too! I heard that they're better for you than potatoes. Well, whether that's true or not, I'm not sure, but I'm gonna hang on to that as truth because I'll take any excuse I can get to eat these. If you happen to have leftovers - highly unlikely - refrigerate them and give them a quick re-heat in your toaster oven to re-crisp them at a later time.

The picture below shows the finished yam fries, the yam fries in the dutch oven frying and the fries after the first frying - notice how they are not browned yet at this point.



Yam Fries
2 servings

1 lb (or as many sweet potatoes/yams as you want)
2-3 inches oil for deep frying in a dutch oven (or as required by your fryer)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Equipment: Deep Fryer (or Heavy Pot and Thermometer), Wire Skimmer

1. Peel and cut sweet potato into strips. I like them cut thin so they get crispier versus being too potato-ey inside. About 1/4" thick seemed to work. Try and cut them all the same size.

2. I used the double-frying method that is used for fries. They are crispier when cooked this way and for the little bit more effort it takes to double-fry, the results are totally worth it. First you fry them at 325 degrees F for 2 minutes, remove, let stand for 5 minutes (up to 2 hours), then re-fry at 375 degrees F for about 5 minutes until golden brown. Remove from fryer and drain on wire rack set over newspapers or other absorbent material.

3. Season to taste (I like just salt and pepper) and serve with yummy mayo dips... Chipotle Mayo or Garlic Mayo anyone?

Deep Fried Wontons

I used my new deep fryer for the first time! I have a Presto 1L deep fryer which I bought on Black Friday. I feel kinda trashy saying that I bought a deep fryer! LOL -

These days with everyone being health-conscious and intently watching their food intakes I feel guilty for indulging in the act of deep-frying. But, truth be told, I am in love. I'm keenly on the lookout for deep fried food recipes since all I can think about is using it again and swooning about the goodies I can make with my new favorite appliance.

I made deep fried wontons last night and they turned out so crispy and perfect that I just had to blog about them (even though they are not a dessert and this blog was meant to be mainly for sweets). These wontons would be great as an appetizer too. Heated up in the toaster oven the second day they are just as crisp and delicious. Surprisingly, they were not too time consuming to make and wrap and since you can prep them ahead of time and freeze them, they could even become part of a quick and easy weeknight menu!



Fried Wontons
Makes approx. 50 | Adapted from Joy of Cooking

1 pound ground pork or chicken
4 stalks scallion, finely minced
2 tbsp corn starch
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 tsp salt and pepper
1/2 cup water chestnuts, finely chopped (or celery)
4 tbsp minced carrot

1 pkg wonton wrappers, covered with a damp towel (I used about 50 pcs)
1 egg, beaten

Combine all ingredients except for wonton wrappers and egg.
Working in batches of 10, place a teaspoon of filling in th emiddle of each wonton skin. Moisten edges of wrapper with beateh egg and fold the corners together to form a little pouch. Place in a large bowl while you fill the rest of them. (At this point they can be frozen and cooked at a later date).
To fry: Heat oil to 375 degrees F and place wontons in for about 4-5 minutes per batch or until cooked through. They will be a dark golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towel.
***Alternatively, for a healthier meal, you could make wonton soup. Boil these instead in chicken stock until they are cooked.